Productive jobs key for poverty reduction, World Bank tells FG

The World Bank has emphasised the critical role of productive jobs in Nigeria’s efforts to reduce poverty, calling on the federal government to implement policies that promote job creation and improve employment opportunities.

In its latest Nigeria Development Update Report, the World Bank said employment on its own is not enough to lift people out of poverty, insisting that Nigeria needs productive jobs, but these are scarce

“Without jobs, poor Nigerians will not be able to escape poverty,” the World Bank said in the report titled “Staying the Course: Progress Amid Pressing Challenges”.

The international financial institution noted that sustained poverty reduction depends on creating wage jobs through macro-fiscal stability, growth, and private sector development, complemented by building human capital.

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“Being employed, however, is no guarantee of being able to escape poverty. Many jobs are not productive and therefore remunerative enough to afford a life beyond poverty,” the World Bank said in the report.

It added, “Jobs hold the key to sharing the proceeds of growth. Since Nigeria has a young and growing population, the jobs that can harness the country’s potential “demographic dividend” are needed now”.

The World Bank noted that wage jobs are associated with escaping poverty, but they remain rare: “just 13.6 percent of employed Nigerians are primarily engaged in wage work”.

“Addressing the urgent need for more wage jobs depends on the foundations of macro-fiscal stability and growth,” the Bretton Wood Institution said.

It noted that this entails establishing the conditions for private sector development-boosting market access, increasing openness to trade, and promoting a better business environment can all help.

“This must be complemented by other long-run efforts to reduce poverty, including building human capital and ensuring,” the World Bank said.